The Dual Throne

Gibilese Culture

The Gibilis Khanate are a fierce warrior people relegated to an unwanted, subservient role to the Dominion of Namugal. It is known that the Khans hate their masters, secretly encouraging and resisting them whenever possible.
The pervasiveness of rebellious thought throughout the Khanate is long since been dulled in the two thousand years that the Dominion has held power.
The ancestral rivals of the Kingdom of Anbar, the Khans once vied for control of Iskurru against the Anbari Kings in a titanic struggle that only ceased when Namugal arrived and restored peace.

Warrior Society

Even though the Dominion has largely neutered their once-insatiable lust for battle, the Gibilese still carry out unsanctioned raids against the smaller independent city-states of the Allied Cities.
They do, however, still hate their Anbari neighbors with a burning passion. Khans occasionally drink from the bleached skulls of ancient royal soldiers at various national ceremonies and holidays.
The Sepiyan Republic is distrusted, but viewed as inconsequential; they are a society of bankers and capitalists, hardly worth worrying about in the eyes of the Khans.

Xenophobia

Whereas the Kingdom of Anbar embraces those different than itself, the Gibilis Khanate has a burning distrust of foreign influences; scars it still bears from The Great Betrayal.
While the Dominion may forbid the Khans from simply closing their borders, they can hardly police every back-alley in the nation.
Local law-enforcement is usually disinclined to follow up on crimes against foreigners and even if they do, the effort is largely half-hearted.

Equality of the Sexes and the Absence of the Class System

Anyone not within the cadre of the Khans or in the military are considered equal. Gender disparity and class distinction are foreign concepts to the Gibilese, all able bodies are viewed as important commodities that are to be respected. In times of war, the men are the only ones included in front-line fighting, though this is largely because they are far more expendable than women of child-bearing age. During wartime, the women are expected to raise the next generation and form the defensive garrison of cities, villages, and other settlements.
The reluctance to place women on the front-lines has less to do with any kind of misogyny and more to do with the accepted view that men are expendable. In fact, “Khan” is considered a gender-neutral title: many women throughout the Khanate’s history have worn the venerated mantle.

Likewise, a recognizable class-system beyond “Military” and “Civilian” does not seem to exist.